hello all, i'm new to us native fish and recently acquired a few swamp darters for my 20g planted tank. i have some questions about them.
what substrate would be more suitable for swamp darters, caribsea's torpedo beach or crystal river sand? i'm looking for color contrast that would make the darters stand out more. i have black aquarium gravel now. also, do swamp darters dig?
what size do they get to? i've read 2'' but someone on aquabid told me 3.75''.
what is their life expectancy? i read 1 to 2 years.
and finally, what do i feed them? so far, i've only seen them go for frozen bbs. they have small mouths.
can i keep them at 77F long term with tropicals?
what other fish would be suitable to keep with the darters? i don't want other fish to out-compete them for food.
substrate for swamp darters and other questions
Started by
Guest_celaeno_*
, Aug 28 2012 11:16 AM
12 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_jblaylock_*
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Posted 28 August 2012 - 11:28 AM
I'll try to help with a few questions as I've had a swamp darter before.
Mine did fine with natural looking aquarium gravel, they won't dig. The substrate is your preference. Usually darker surroundings and bright lights help the coloration. I perfer the look of darter's natural surroundings. The swamp darter has a range of habitats, "Habitat includes slow or still waters of swamps, ponds, lakes, and streams, often over mud and detritus or near aquatic vegetation, sometimes over sand or gravel"
Size, I would say 2-2.5inches...tops
Life span, about a year
I feed all my darters frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp, they love them.
Most darters prefer temps below 72. However, the swamp darter is more common in the south and they likely are tolerant of higher temps. I would acclimate them slowly and make sure they have a lot of O2.
As for other fish. You can keep them with other non-aggressive community fish. But, most of us prefer to keep them with their native species...other darters, shiners, minnows, dace...
Here's a nice site about the Swamp Darter
http://www.natureser...stoma fusiforme+
Mine did fine with natural looking aquarium gravel, they won't dig. The substrate is your preference. Usually darker surroundings and bright lights help the coloration. I perfer the look of darter's natural surroundings. The swamp darter has a range of habitats, "Habitat includes slow or still waters of swamps, ponds, lakes, and streams, often over mud and detritus or near aquatic vegetation, sometimes over sand or gravel"
Size, I would say 2-2.5inches...tops
Life span, about a year
I feed all my darters frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp, they love them.
Most darters prefer temps below 72. However, the swamp darter is more common in the south and they likely are tolerant of higher temps. I would acclimate them slowly and make sure they have a lot of O2.
As for other fish. You can keep them with other non-aggressive community fish. But, most of us prefer to keep them with their native species...other darters, shiners, minnows, dace...
Here's a nice site about the Swamp Darter
http://www.natureser...stoma fusiforme+
#3
Guest_njJohn_*
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Posted 28 August 2012 - 11:38 AM
Mine like to make a home in a cave and sometimes go missing in big leaves of plants. Fun little guys.
#4
littlen
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Posted 29 August 2012 - 07:46 AM
hello all, i'm new to us native fish and recently acquired a few swamp darters for my 20g planted tank. i have some questions about them.
what substrate would be more suitable for swamp darters, caribsea's torpedo beach or crystal river sand? i'm looking for color contrast that would make the darters stand out more. i have black aquarium gravel now. also, do swamp darters dig?
I would use smaller/finer sand. Think of the habitat they are found in....it's not going to be the same as the cobble/rubble you find other stream-going darters on. They don't dig, but like all darters they do pick at food items in the substrate.
what size do they get to? i've read 2'' but someone on aquabid told me 3.75''.
You show me a 3.75" Swamp darter and I'll show you a trillion dollar bill. Around 2" is correct.
what is their life expectancy? i read 1 to 2 years.
That is correct. Although I'm sure there are others who may have accounts of them living a bit longer. But we are talking ''in the wild" versus "in a captive environment".
and finally, what do i feed them? so far, i've only seen them go for frozen bbs. they have small mouths.
Mine will eat adult brine shrimp, blood worms, black worms, daphnia, and even bits of finely chopped up meats (smelt, shrimp). They will swim up in the water column to compete with other tankmates, but always ensure enough gets down to them if yours does not.
can i keep them at 77F long term with tropicals?
I think that is an acceptable temp. Just watch for aggression with your tropicals. Some tetras can be a little dominant, and other tropical bottom dwellers (loaches, cats) can be as well.
what other fish would be suitable to keep with the darters? i don't want other fish to out-compete them for food.
As mentioned previously, passive natives will work. I keep mine with Bluefin killifish and Least Killifish. (All found in the same type of habitat). The daters will hide under any type of cover you provide and will come out during feeding time. My tank is heavily planted and days go by where I'll only see 1 or 2 Swamp darters out of the 8 or so that are in there. Yet when food is offered, the all appear. Good luck with them. They're a great fish.
Nick L.
#5
Guest_Richard_*
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Posted 29 August 2012 - 02:10 PM
Love these fish - I have a tank myself. Substrate is fine sand and the tank is full of plants and dead oak and sycamore leaves. In addition to frozen blood worms and brine or mysis shrimp, I feed them live white worms. As others reported I see the most of them when I am feeding them. But I do see them other times if I sit and watch the tank for awhile, but they are skulkers.
#6
Guest_celaeno_*
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Posted 29 November 2012 - 12:00 PM
The darters are doing great, but the tank kind of looks empty since all I have are bottom dwellers that don't move around much. Or in the darters' case, are small and blend in with the dark substrate.
So I was wondering if I could get a betta (splendens) in there? Maybe a male or a couple of females? Would they attack the darters?
So I was wondering if I could get a betta (splendens) in there? Maybe a male or a couple of females? Would they attack the darters?
#7
Guest_ashtonmj_*
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Posted 29 November 2012 - 12:25 PM
As long as there is enough cover, like dense java moss, you can keep swamp darters with Enneacanthus spp. I've also kept them with a Bantam sunfish that was more than large enough to eat them if he wanted too. As far as life span, I've had two for three years now in a heavily planted tank with 4" of play sand, a thin layer of fractured clay, and a layer of mulm, detritus. The places swamp darters live aren't always the prettiest in an aquarium.
#8
Guest_Usil_*
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Posted 29 November 2012 - 02:12 PM
Darters are very interesting fish to keep. They stay near rocks at the center of the tank for me and keep the ground area active. Just make sure that you have a plan to feed them separately from any other fish as they do not come to the top very often and can't compete with fish that stay in the middle or the top of the tank. I usually feed them last with freeze dried tubifex worms on a pointy stick placed at the bottom so they can get to it. They know the stick means food is on the way and attack the food. Frozen blood worms are also enjoyed. Also, when I feed bits of frozen shrimp or earth worms I make sure they get to the bottom too.
To make your native tank more interesting take some time to actually go out collecting rather than adding tropicals. Try to get species that live near the top like gambusia or top minnows both are generally easy to catch this time of the year when water tends to clump in puddles or pools. This isolates the fish and make them easy to catch with dip nets. Also, try for fish that swim actively in the middle of the tank. Shiners can also be found in the pools and they do well in fish tanks. Very active and flashy. Altogether it makes for an interesting tanks. As you learn more about what kind of natives live nearby you can be more selective as you learn their habitats.
Sunfish can make interesting additions to a tank but they get larger and limit what else can be in the tank at the same time.
Usil
To make your native tank more interesting take some time to actually go out collecting rather than adding tropicals. Try to get species that live near the top like gambusia or top minnows both are generally easy to catch this time of the year when water tends to clump in puddles or pools. This isolates the fish and make them easy to catch with dip nets. Also, try for fish that swim actively in the middle of the tank. Shiners can also be found in the pools and they do well in fish tanks. Very active and flashy. Altogether it makes for an interesting tanks. As you learn more about what kind of natives live nearby you can be more selective as you learn their habitats.
Sunfish can make interesting additions to a tank but they get larger and limit what else can be in the tank at the same time.
Usil
Edited by Usil, 29 November 2012 - 02:14 PM.
#9
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 04 December 2012 - 11:20 AM
Swamp darters can handle transient (weeks) temperatures up to at least 90, and mid-80s is not an unusual summer for them at all. There may be regional differences in tolerance - your Kentucky waters are likely cooler than the South Carolina ditches where I caught them. However, I'm basing those temperatures on measurements of bulk water temperature in the middle of a largish flowing river, while the darters are often found in shallow dark-bottomed ditches in full sun.
#10
Guest_njJohn_*
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Posted 15 January 2013 - 04:16 PM
Do your swamp darters chase each other? I have two and one is a bully. It was the same with the last pair, also. My tesl. darters never did this.
Edited by njJohn, 15 January 2013 - 04:17 PM.
#11
al10
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Posted 16 September 2014 - 08:24 AM
I know this is a old thread but how did they do/doing?
#12
Guest_don212_*
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Posted 16 September 2014 - 04:11 PM
my darters have learned to come up to the surface and take flake food or almost anything, they can be bullies, chasing each other around the bottom when they're feeling frisky, they aren't aggressive to others much , but will fight back, and they will tear up live shrimp, they seem to have a lot of personality love them
#13
al10
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- North Carolina
Posted 16 September 2014 - 04:44 PM
Ok thanks, can you look at my thread in the intruduction section please.
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